First appearing in print in 1890, the character of Sherlock Holmes has now become synonymous worldwide with the concept of a super sleuth. His creator, Conan Doyle, imbued his detective hero with intellectual power, acute observational abilities, a penchant for deductive reasoning and a highly educated use of forensic skills. Indeed, Doyle created the first fictional private detective who used what we now recognize as modern scientific investigative techniques.

Your Likes make Audible better!

Publisher's Summary

First appearing in print in 1890, the character of Sherlock Holmes has now become synonymous worldwide with the concept of a super sleuth. His creator, Conan Doyle, imbued his detective hero with intellectual power, acute observational abilities, a penchant for deductive reasoning and a highly educated use of forensic skills. Indeed, Doyle created the first fictional private detective who used what we now recognize as modern scientific investigative techniques.

Doyle ended up writing four novels and 56 short stories featuring Holmes and his companion, Dr. Watson. All but four are told in the first person by Watson, two by Holmes, and two are written in the third person. Together, this series of beautifully written Victorian literature has sold more copies than any other books in the English language, with the exceptions of the Bible and Shakespeare.

Volume 1 in this series consists of two novels, A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four, followed by a collection of short stories entitled The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

The only problem I have with this series is that I am awaiting the next episode with impatience! I bought this after much comparing, I wanted a voice I could enjoy, one who could do a variety of voices, and a series that didn't end up costing a lot, as I intend to own every story. This is value for money, and worth the wait. The only improvement possible is a multiple cast, but I chose cost over that.
Well done! and thanks for getting back to me - there will be three volumes when finished, and the second is ready and due to be offered for download any time now.

I really enjoyed listening to this collection of Sherlock Holes stories. I just wish there was an easy to find list of the stories for reference The narration was fantastic. The short stories were a nice length; I often listened to them on the way to work. Each story contained an individual plot/case yet there were many times references to previous cases, providing a connection between stories. It was interesting to see the Holmes and Watson characters develop throughout the collection.

I started listening to this collection because of the Sherlock TV show produced by BBC. The show was great and surprisingly fits with the classic stories quite well.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (short stories, published in The Strand between July, 1891 and December, 1892):

A Scandal in BohemiaThe Red-Headed LeagueA Case of IdentityThe Boscombe Valley MysteryThe Five Orange PipsThe Man with the Twisted LipThe Adventure of the Blue CarbuncleThe Adventure of the Speckled BandThe Adventure of the Engineer's ThumbThe Adventure of the Noble BachelorThe Adventure of the Beryl CoronetThe Adventure of the Copper Beeches

From what I can tell from a quick internet search, Volume 1 of this audiobook covers the Holmes cannon faithfully from the first. I'm eager to start Volume 2 to see if the coverage will be as comprehensive.

I liked Charlton Griffin's Sherlock and Dr. Watson, but I didn't like his portrayal of any of the female characters (they sounded so wimpy and foolish, even when they were written otherwise).

I read several of the short stories, out of order, years ago. Listening to this audiobook to "read" the cannon from start to finish is great because I can follow the character development of Homles and Watson, and their relationship.

There's a reason you've heard of Sherlock Holmes before ever cracking a page or hearing the narration.
These stories are great, things explained and you're never left in the dark as to what is happening.
That was my biggest fear with mystery novels, that I never knew what was going on till the very end explanation.

This Audio book narrator is TOP notch, I don't think I've heard any better, and only a few on the same level.
This is absolutely worth getting without a doubt! A voice for every character and they all come to life.

If you are an audiobook addict as I am, you will probably agree that a mediocre narrator can make a fantastic book awful and a mediocre book un-“readable.” I did not find Charlton Griffin’s performance at all mediocre! I love all of the Sherlock Holmes stories and enjoyed every hour of this narration.

I gave this four stars, but that is a little unfair. I probably need to break it down a little better. ACD's first couple novellas (Study in Scarlet; Sign of Four) were interesting but just didn't hold together well. I could easily deduce what Doyle was trying to do with Study in Scarlet, but he just didn't pull it off (3 stars). Sign of Four was a tad better fit for Doyle (3.5 stars), but still not quite up to my expectations.

ACD's true form is the short story. His longer pieces just don't hold up quite as well as Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (5 stars). ACD is a master of the short story. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes has very few duds. It is clear that not only was Doyle breaking new ground, but he absolutely pwned the form (and would for the next century). It is rare to find a literary work that sold so well initially (the Strand sold Holmes like crazy) and still appears relevant and popular today (from t.v. shows like Sherlock to Bones). That is the brilliance of Doyle's detective stories: they are universal, they are timeless, and they are -- elementary.

What made the experience of listening to The Complete Stories of Sherlock Holmes, Volume 1 the most enjoyable?

These are great stories that have stood the test of time and work well in the audiobook format.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Charlton Griffin?

I have great admiration for the actors who read these audiobooks and can produce a range of accents and never get them mixed up. So I am willing to forgive a few lapses in this regard. However, the frequency of missed accents and mispronunciations did detract from my enjoyment of the book. There were occasions where it was clear that the reader did not comprehend the words he was reading. For example, "bowing" with a violin bow not bending from the waist; "a propos" and "in situ" mispronounced; "house' and "horse" getting mixed up - and many more.

I read a few Sherlock Holmes stories many years ago but had no idea that so many were written by Conan Doyle. The stories are of a length that is easy to digest and the excellent narration by Charlton Griffin (tops in my book, up there with Frank Muller and Simon Vance) brings the stories to life with his various character impersonations. I probably like Griffin's narration with a woman's voice the best of any narrator. The women often sound somewhat fickle, but for the late 1800s this wouldn't be too out of step with the times.

The length of each story is such that it can be "read" at a good pace leading to excitement to hear the next story. The voice characterization for Holmes is spot on. Having seen the older movies that featured Basil Rathbone as Holmes, I found myself picturing him as the Holmes character thanks to Griffin's narration.

You will find humor in these stories as well, especially when Holmes must tolerate the incompetence of others around him. At such a cheap price with good audio quality, a top-shelf narration by Griffin, and intriguing stories, this is a must-buy.

I don't want to overstate my problem with this, because not everybody will be so fussy - but I cannot *stand* the choice of an American narrator.

It's not that the guy reading it is 'bad at his job'. Not at all. If I were to find him the narrator of an American novel, I expect he might be excellent. But because he's not British, a). his accents are slightly off, and b). he mispronounces certain words in a way that really, really jars.

For instance; "lab-ra-tory". I'm sorry, but a physician in Victorian England would have pronounced it, "lab-ora-tory". "Enth-oo-siasm" should be sounded, "enth-yoo-siasm". And when the narrator attempts to 'gentrify' certain words, he changes the vowels inappropriately - yes, "bath" becomes "barth", but "fancy" does not become "farncy". That's all within the first three minutes.

If you're as finickity as I am, it's intolerable. I couldn't get past the first quarter of an hour. All that said, the stories are great so, if you're not fussed by such things, feel free to ignore me. I'm stunned, though, that nobody has reported this already...

42 of 44 people found this review helpful

Mark

Glasgow, United Kingdom

11/18/11

Overall

"The Wrong Reader"

The actor is seriously miscast. He not only cannot sustain an English accent but pronounces words in ways that do not exist in any spoken version of English that I know of. The most prominent and annoying of these is that he pronounces the 'l' in Holmes (and in 'folk'). Deeply disappointing, as I bought all the volumes of the short stories.

14 of 15 people found this review helpful

Tracy

Lyme Regis, United Kingdom

6/24/12

Overall

"Great but with definate cringe moments."

Oh thank you, thank you to the other reviewers. I thought it was just me! There has to be a problem when the sounding of those missplaced 'l's in Holmes actually make me flinch. I love these stories and the narrator made a good effort but why? Don't tell me there wasn't a single actual english actor to read these oh so english books! Hovering undecided over the buy button for volume two.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Sally

Middlesbrough, United Kingdom

9/2/12

Overall

"Good stories but I did not like the narrator"

I found the narrator's different accents irritating. When listening to stories I go off into my own little bubble of imagination, picturing the characters, but this narrator's accents would pop that bubble.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

V. I. Osborne Broad

PENZANCE, United Kingdom

6/27/12

Overall

"Excellent stories, dreadful narrator"

Wonderful to get back to the originals after the various films, tv series and books and compare the character of Conan Doyle's Holmes and Watson with the numerous alternatives offered today. I bought all three but am deeply frustrated at the choice of narrator. I gave up on the attempt to list the numerous everyday words which jarred, but above all he pronounces the central character 'Hawlms' instead of 'Homes' which grates on the ears over and over and over.
It's too late for me, and I will listen to them all (gritting my teeth) but please, Audible, consider redoing them?

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Jonathan

SOUTH CROYDON, United Kingdom

8/1/12

Overall

"Accent"

I found the accent of the narrator irritating, but I never thought he was American. I thought he was doing Historically Informed Performance with authentic late Victorian vowels: Dorg for dog, orficer for officer and meek for make. That was irritating, although probably no more corny than the stories themselves. But doing women and children in falsetto is really off putting. The cockney accents are overdone.

But no worse than Dick Van Dyke's valiant and famous attempts at cockney in Mary Poppins.

The two novels (Study in Scarlet and Sign of Four) are not a patch on the short stories once Doyle had got into his stride.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Catherine

TUNBRIDGE WELLS, United Kingdom

4/19/13

Overall

"Fabulous stories hidden behind an AWFUL accent!"

It is soooo easy to make this a success- the stories are well established and successful, but the choice of narrator is atrocious. Think American trying to do an Anglo/Indian accent with a heavy cockney leaning plus a smattering of 1930's BBC announcer. It would be better if he had stuck to his US accent instead of making too cringing to listen. Has made me want to look in to refunds/returns to Audible for the first time in three years' membership.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Rocio

London, United Kingdom

4/13/13

Overall

"A good book a good narration"

The Complete Stories of Sherlock Holmes is a very good book and this narration is as well as the it was expexted, very close to the book so is very easy to follow the book while listening, making this audiobook a very good option for those who are learning English and need to practice but also for those who enjoy hearing well-tell stories.

The only but is that sometimes the speed of the narration is a little bit fast.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Claire

Colchester, United Kingdom

3/20/13

Overall

"Beautiful literature, spoilt only by the narrator"

I adore these stories, so wonderfully written. I would recommend these books to anyone. The English language at it's literary best. However, this book misses a 5 star rating based purely on the narrator. Conan-Doyle's Holmes demands a native English speaker. Whilst this is one of the better English accents I've heard from an American, there is some laughable pronunciation 'orff' (off) and 'lorng' (long) 'parssenger' etc etc.

But, all in all the writing is strong enough to withstand this onslaught. It greatly depends on how particular you are about these things... If you want these stories in all their glory, then the only narrator is Derek Jacobi.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Jenny

Merseyside, United Kingdom

12/27/12

Overall

"Easy listening"

Lots of other reviews mention the annoying habit of the narrator mispronouncing some of the quintessentially English words. I thought I would find this equally annoying. However, I was able to get past this and lose myself in the plots and dialogue between Holmes and Watson. The recording is some 20 hours long and once I was into the collection, the mispronunciations faded into inconsequence. Great value for money for your "credit" too. However, with so many marvellous British voices to choose from, the question is why did they choose an American? That being said, for Holmes fans who can listen to the book whilst picturing Basil Rathbone in his distinctive coat and deerstalker, you won't be disappointed.

Your report has been received. It will be reviewed by Audible and we will take appropriate action.

Can't wait to hear more from this listener?

You can now follow your favorite reviewers on Audible.

When you follow another listener, we'll highlight the books they review, and even email* you a copy of any new reviews they write. You can un-follow a listener at any time to stop receiving their updates.

* If you already opted out of emails from Audible you will still get review emails by the listeners you follow.